AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/03 Report--

Recently, pinduoduo e-commerce platform launched a "large direct subsidy" car purchase activity, all participating in the activity are SAIC models, of which Cadillac XT5, Volkswagen Tuen and Volkswagen Touguan are sold at a discount of 5.5%. The Cadillac XT5, which is officially priced at 349700 yuan, now costs only 192300 yuan, less than 200000 yuan for the first time in history. Such a "lethal" price, so that SAIC executives can not sit still.

SAIC executives: refurbished cars, fakes

During the five-to-six period in some cities last year, a number of SAIC models were sharply reduced and sold, especially for the three major brands owned by SAIC GM, and terminal discounts of five or 40% were common. With the completion of the sale of inventory cars, the price system returns to the normal level, but throughout the car market, the price reduction of Shanghai automobile products is also relatively large. Is it possible that the "50% discount era" for Shanghai Automotive products is coming again?

It is understood that at the "May 5th Shopping Festival", pinduoduo said that he had invested a total of 2.5 billion yuan in cash-grade vouchers to launch a batch of "45% discount" durable goods through a large direct drop, including 55 SAIC new Cadillac XT5, Volkswagen Touguan, Volkswagen Tuen, etc., with a maximum price reduction of nearly 160000 yuan. Among them, XT5 with a guide price of 349700 yuan will be sold at 192335 yuan after a reduction; Volkswagen Tuang with a guidance price of 299700 yuan will be sold at 181445 yuan; and Volkswagen Tuguan L with a guide price of 253,800 yuan will be sold at 139,59 yuan after a price reduction.

In response to this news, SAIC GM Cadillac took the lead in "cracking down on counterfeiting." Feng Dan, head of Cadillac's marketing department, posted a message on his moments on April 29th that pinduoduo's low-price car sale was a refurbishment of new cars and fakes, calling on the vast number of dealers and consumers to pay attention to fighting fakes. SAIC executives directly reprimanded pinduoduo for selling these low-cost models with problems, which is an act of deceiving consumers.

At the same time, in response to pinduoduo's marketing campaign to sell Cadillac XT5 at a low price, SAIC General Motors sales Co., Ltd. issued a statement by Cadillac Marketing Department, saying that pinduoduo's activity is not an official act of car companies, the source of the vehicle is unknown, does not provide after-sale original factory warranty, and forbids dealers to participate in all false propaganda and false reports.

In response, pinduoduo responded, "this is actually a cooperation led by the Shanghai municipal government. Pinduoduo spends his own money to subsidize the sale of cars, so it is impossible to sell fake cars." In addition, this activity is only for Shanghai residents. After a successful panic purchase, the consumers will first pay the deposit online, then the customer service staff will contact the consumers to see the car in the 4S store and check their identity; after the identity check is passed, the staff will guide the user to complete the final payment on pinduoduo.

Some netizens believe that pinduoduo's way of selling cars substantially below the market price has seriously lowered the value of the Cadillac brand and damaged the interests of Cadillac dealers, thus causing the brand officials to "crack down on fakes." it even caused the marketing minister to denounce "turning over new cars and fakes" in moments.

Reverse

SAIC GM Cadillac Marketing Department said in a statement on May 2, "after communication and verification, pinduoduo, together with Cadillac authorized distributor Bailian Group, offered high subsidies to consumers by pinduoduo platform during the May 5th Shopping Festival, and launched a 45% discount on Cadillac XT5. Consumers in Shanghai can rest assured to buy and use."

Feng Dan, head of SAIC GM Cadillac Marketing Department, also responded that "the 15 Cadillac XT5 sold on the platform are from the official authorized distributor Bailian Group, so you can rest assured to buy them." Any authentic model can enjoy the service of Cadillac. "

Pinduoduo said that the way to sell at such a low price is to subsidize at least 100000 yuan per car on the basis of the market preferential price, rather than on the basis of the relatively high manufacturer-guided price.

The performance of SAIC has dropped.

Under the repeated price failures, the sales volume of Shanghai Automobile system has also fluctuated sharply. SAIC sold 6.238 million vehicles in 2019, down 11.54% from the same period last year, of which SAIC GM sold 1.6 million vehicles, down 18.8% from the same period last year.

SAIC GM owns Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. Due to the problem of product strategy, SAIC GM has fallen into a disadvantageous state of "price for volume". The terminal prices of many of its models have long been lost, and the brand value has also fallen. Due to changes in the market competition environment, another joint venture SAIC-Volkswagen product terminal concessions are also increasing, and then exposed the safety problems of poor performance in Passat, so that SAIC-Volkswagen's public opinion environment and performance are greatly affected. SAIC Skoda has been marginalized and launched lower positioning and official price cuts in 2020 in order to save performance.

In the first quarter of 2020, SAIC sold 679000 vehicles, down 55.71% from the same period last year, more than the average decline in China's overall car sales. SAIC GM fell 58% year-on-year, and SAIC-Volkswagen sales fell 61% in the first quarter.

Along with the decline in sales, SAIC's performance also plummeted. According to the financial results for the first quarter of 2020, SAIC achieved operating income of 101.249 billion yuan, down 48.35% from the same period last year; the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was only 1.121 billion yuan, down 86.42% from the same period last year.

Not long ago, according to a report in the Shanghai Securities News, the sales and performance of SAIC have dropped again and again, and the senior management in Shanghai can no longer sit still. The situation of SAIC has attracted the attention of senior officials in Shanghai, issuing special instructions to SAIC to study the existing problems, including brand, quality and sales. At the same time, relevant departments in Shanghai will step up support for SAIC's nine major brands and a number of new cars.

Generally speaking, "price" is a sensitive topic for SAIC GM and even SAIC products, which reflects the declining competitiveness of products and the decline of brand value. Cadillac's sensitivity to quotations for market activities can also reflect some problems.

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